Broccoli, Leek and Feta Clafoutis is a soft, rich and deeply savory crustless pie, studded with griddled Tenderstem broccoli, leeks and dill. A filling dinner for four, or just-right side dish for six. Leftovers are good too, so don’t think of down-sizing. 🙂
Keeping going with my dive into my favourite cookbooks, this recipe is a riff on one from Diana Henry‘s latest cookbook, From the Oven to the Table. Written in her trademark warm, accessible voice, it is easy to pass an afternoon day-dreaming in its pages.
(Dish) size matters
I love all of Diana’s cookbooks for different reasons, but I adore the blueprint nature of this one. Most recipes are attractively fuss-free, tweakable affairs, where the only hard-and-fast stipulation is size of dish. Yes, size does matter.
Same goes for this recipe. If you decide to make it, pull out a 1-litre – give or take 100 mls – dish to fill with the griddled vegetables and custardy mixture of eggs, Greek yogurt, feta and pecorino cheeses. A bigger dish will give you a lumpy pancake (and not in a nice way). Too small and you will get a gloopy interior. What you want is a soft and light savory pudding that has you reaching for seconds.
What is a clafoutis?
You may have had a sweet, fruity version of clafoutis. You may have even made one. I have one on here for Cherry-Chocolate Clafoutis (terrible photos but delicious recipe). In its true form, this is a French dessert of eggs, cream, sugar, flour and fruit, puffing slightly as it is pulled from the oven. It quickly deflates, but this doesn’t in any way detract from the eating. A fruit-based clafoutis often has the texture of a “sturdy custard” (as stated by Elise Bauer of simplyrecipes). When cold many clafoutis can be slightly rubbery – just being honest! This is due to the egg-flour ratio.
In looks and texture a savory clafoutis – the best kind! – is akin to a crustless quiche, so is ideal for anyone with a lower-carbohydrate lifestyle and missing out on savory pies and the like.
This Broccoli, Leek and Feta Clafoutis is a quite a bit lighter, and not as cut-able as a traditional fruit-flecked clafoutis. Maybe that is because I use ground almonds in place of flour. Anyway, it is a soft, savory pudding as made here, studded with griddled vegetables – which you can totally switch out for something else – soft dill leaves (in this case fennel fronds as that’s what I grow) and some seasonings that I use a lot: black pepper, nutmeg and cardamom.
Bottle Farm – a mini garden in your kitchen

Bottle Farm kit growing chard, parsley and basil in a kitchen window. Image credit: Bottle Farm
Speaking of dill and fennel, I had an email from UK start-up company, Bottle Farm. They have invented a kit to turn a 2-litre plastic bottle into a garden. Yes, a garden! The components to transform your waste into a mini garden are from 95 % recycled materials, and is very clever indeed. It’s attractive, too.
Co-founder Charlie Francis says: “There are lots of good reasons to grow your own fresh food. The problem is that most people don’t have the time or space to do it. So we have designed Bottle Farm to either hang on a window or sit on a flat surface. Now anyone can grow fresh produce at home with minimal effort. And at the same time extend the life of a plastic bottle.”
Bottle Farm is a self-watering system that uses hydroponic technology, which means the plants grow in water, rather than soil. Natural sunlight gives the plants energy to grow, so the kit doesn’t require a plug socket and electricity like other systems.
The kit is assembled with an empty plastic bottle. Simply cut a slot using the template and insert the Grow Pods, made from recycled coconut husk, and plant the provided seeds. Then add tap water and Plant Fuel, a special nutrient powder included in the kit. Now enjoy watching the seeds germinate and roots emerge, as the fresh vegetables, delicious herbs, and beautiful houseplants grow in your window.
Bottle Farm is now available on Kickstarter: ks.bottle-farm.com
Click on the above link to find out more, and to perhaps put your name down for the kit when it comes out. You can also grow plants from your own scrap vegetables and herbs. Disclaimer: I am not being paid to promote this product, nor will I receive any free products.
What’s in this Broccoli, Leek and Feta Clafoutis
Tenderstem broccoli/broccolini, but you can use regular broccoli. In the UK most Tenderstem packs are 200g each. You will want two of them.
A couple of leeks
Greek or Turkish yogurt – full-fat is best. I’ve not tested this with low-fat.
Feta cheese – get the good stuff.
Pecorino cheese – look out for ones made with vegetarian rennet if you need to. Vegetarian versions are widely available in the UK, but I’m not sure about elsewhere. It adds a extra depth of flavor but isn’t crucial if you can’t get it.
Eggs – five of them. Organic and free-range, please.
Fresh dill – half of a typical UK pack
Cardamom seeds, black pepper, nutmeg – you can just use the pepper, but if you have the rest, do use it. Again, depth of flavor
Ground almonds – or use polenta like Diana does
What you do
This is sooo easy – and quick. It’s really just griddle, mix, pour and bake. Throw some sliced red pepper tossed in oil into the oven while the clafoutis bakes, then prep a simple green salad to have alongside, for something fresh. Oh, and some chilled white wine would be – okay, is! – fabulous with this deeply comforting dish.
First of all you griddle the broccoli and sliced leeks to soften and only lightly char. You can instead roast them – about 10 minutes. Then you cut up the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, placing them in a oiled or buttered baking dish. Then you mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the vegetables, shaking gently to make sure the batter gets into all of the nooks and crannies. Finally you bake it in a moderate oven for a mere 15-20 minutes. Check at 15. If it is lightly golden and the middle isn’t wobbly, you are probably good to go. Insert a skewer if in doubt. You want it it come out with only the slightest cling of eggy batter. Fully-clean is fine. Leave to cool a wee bit while you tear up some green salad leaves and open a bottle of chilled white wine. Serve warm, scooping out portions with a spoon rather than cutting.
Amazon.co.uk affiliate link to Diana Henry’s From the Oven to the Table: Simple dishes that look after themselves: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER. Buying on this link costs you nothing extra and helps to off-set the cost of running Food To Glow and keeping it ad-free. Thanks so much x

Broccoli, Leek and Feta Clafoutis (low-carb)
A soft, rich and deeply savory crustless pie studded with griddled Tenderstem, leeks and dill.
Ingredients
- 400 g Tenderstem broccoli organic, if possible
- 2 leeks green ends removed and sliced thickly for griddling
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil extra if needed
- 5 medium organic eggs whisked until all one color
- 125 g feta cheese well-crumbled
- 125 g full-fat Greek or Turkish yogurt
- 40 g pecorino cheese finely grated; vegetarian versions are available in the UK
- 40 g ground almonds or polenta
- 10 g fresh dill fronds torn or chopped (no stems please)
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and very finely minced or grated
- ¼ tsp salt optional; more or less to your taste
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 2 green cardamom pods seeds finely crushed - optional
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
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Set the oven to preheat at 160C fan/350F. Oil or butter a ceramic gratin-type dish, or seasoned cast-iron dish, with the capacity of about 1 litre. Sizes vary, so see my dish for reference.
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Toss the broccoli in half of the oil and add to a medium-hot griddle pan. Turn after three minutes. Cook a further 2-3 minutes. Set aside. Brush most of the remaining oil on the leeks and lay in the griddle pan, oil-side down. Brush the remaining oil on the tops fo the leeks and cook until soft and marked. Slice the Tenderstem into bite-sized pieces.
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Add the remaining ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat with a fork.
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Place the chopped Tenderstem and leeks into a oiled or buttered ceramic gratin-type dish, or seasoned cast-iron dish, with the capacity of about 1 litre. Sizes vary, so see my dish for reference. Pour over the creamy mixture. Shake the dish a little to get the mixture into the nooks and crannies.
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Place the filled dish into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the clafoutis is just set and has a hint of color on the top.
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Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving. Very good with roasted peppers, green salad and a glass of chilled white wine.
Recipe Notes
Other vegetables: Ms Henry uses roasted, thick slices of courgette and spring onions as her vegetables. I think this would be adaptable to most any non-watery vegetable. So, a good recipe to use up odds and ends as well as deliberately chosen vegetables.
Cooking the vegetables: you can roast the vegetables instead of griddling them. Do so at 180C fan/400F for about 10 minutes.
Nutritional values: the values will differ according to the products that you use. Dropping the salt and using salt-reduced cheeses will lower the sodium; using lower fat yogurt and cheeses will drop the fat of course.
Note: one of the images shows the ground almonds in the griddle pan. I toasted them. But don't bother I don't think it adds or detracts from the flavour or texture.
Kellie, I love that you’ve made a savory version of one of my favorite desserts! I’m especially excited about the combination of dill, feta and cardamom.
Thanks, Katie. 🙂 You would make a much prettier version of this, I’m sure!
The cheese and leek combination in this are totally delicious
Soooo filling too!
This looks so tempting, and Pecorino Romano happens to be my favorite cheese – I wish I could have cheeses!
Wish you could, too! I’m glad this appeals though. How are you doing, Dolly?
Doing fine, thank you, keeping very busy virtually teaching. What about you, dear Kellie?
That’s great, Dolly. 🙂 How fulfilling. I wish I wasn’t so shy or I would have a go at on-line teaching. It’s much easier to hide away here on the blog and hope for the best! WE are fine, but missing our daughter who lives in Chicago soooo much that it almost physically hurts at times. Not sure when we will get to hug her. And my Dad, who lives in Florida. :/
I know how you feel, dear Kellie. I also miss my sons and grandchildren very much and only see them on the screen. Your father has to be especially careful; we are in a hot spot now.
I had no choice but to teach online as all colleges and universities are closed, so we had to continue in a virtual learning environment. I actually like it, even though I miss a live classroom with real students around me.
Yum!!!
Thanks, babe. You would love it!
I could actually scoff a huge portion of this right now! How delicious it sounds. I enjoyed hearing about Bottle Farm, thats very clever and super useful. Thanks for telling me about them.
Thanks, Niki! The Bottle Garden is really cool, yes. Just wondering if meantime I could fashion something (it will be ugly and unstable I’m sure!) to adapt a water bottle for growing cuttings. I have a special vase I use already and it works a treat. 🙂
Sadly this didn’t work for me. Took 35 mins in oven to set and even then the veg wasn’t soft. The sauce split with the top looking more like scrambled egg and a watery soup at the bottom. The dish was exactly 1 litre capacity but wonder if it was a bit too deep. Fortunately it was a trial and only me eating it but I’m afraid the remaining three portions went into the bin. Where did I go wrong?
Oh I’m so sorry, Helen. Were the vegetables cooked enough before being covered in the sauce? Maybe I need to amend the recipe to say that vegetables need to be mostly cooked before baking in the sauce. Tenderstem should cook in the amount of time I gave (6 mins). As for the not setting bit, I’m really not sure why that would be. I’ve made it three times before I posted it, and it was more or less fine. One time I slightly overcooked though, and it was a tad rubbery.The number of eggs are same as Diana’s recipe, and I used a little less of the yogurt and cheese (she adds pecorino too) so I’m not sure why it didn’t go into a custard. That’s very disappointing. I’m so sorry. Maybe the pan depth but can’t be sure. That wouldn’t cause it to split. 🙁
Wondering if the yogurt was fat-free? That might explain it. Not sure though. Hmmm
I love this. I have been well supplied with free range eggs during lock down and, I’ve been making a lovely bake with left over sourdough and asparagus but, this will give me another way of using my delicious eggs. Happy to add this to my repertoire!
Oh, your bake sounds wonderful, Helen. Pop back and share your recipe if you wish! I’m sure others would be interested too. 🙂
200g bunch asparagus
30g unsalted butter
5 medium free-range eggs, beaten
500ml whole milk
3 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped (optional)
½ garlic clove, peeled and grated
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
50g grated parmesan, plus an extra sprinkling for the top of the pudding
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
100g day-old sourdough bread, torn into large chunks
Melted butter, to serve (optional)
Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Break off and discard the woody ends of the asparagus, then cut the spears into walnut-length pieces. Heat the butter in a large saucepan and fry the asparagus until the butter has browned and the asparagus has coloured a little.
To make the filling, whisk the eggs with the milk, anchovies, garlic, nutmeg, parmesan and thyme, and season generously.
Butter a deep, two-litre ovenproof dish (eg, an enamel bowl, ceramic soufflé dish or non-loose-bottomed cake tin) and add the bread chunks and asparagus. Pour in the custard mix and sprinkle with extra parmesan. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, then bake for 50 minutes, until the custard is deep golden, firm and risen.
Remove and leave to cool slightly (don’t worry that it sinks back a bit) then serve scoops on to warmed plates with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and a crisp green salad. For an extra lick of silkiness, drizzle over a trickle of melted butter.
Here it is! I don’t bother with the anchovy…because I never have them in the cupboard!
Thanks so much, Helen. It sounds fantastic! xx